This book speaks both to those who are beginning to explore the contemplative path and those who are well versed in contemplative practices. Laird reflects on the Christian tradition as a means of support, encouragement, and guidance through the contemplative life.

 

Laird draws from a wide and diverse range of writers – from St Augustine, Evagrius Ponticus, and St Teresa of Avila, to David Foster Wallace, Flannery O'Connor,Virginia Woolf, and Franz Wright- to ground his insight in an ancient practice and give it a voice in contemporary language. With his characteristic lyricism and gentleness, he guides readers through new challenges of contemplative life, such as making ourselves the focus of our own contemplative project; dealing with old pain; transforming the isolation of loneliness and depression into a liberating solidarity with all who suffer; and the danger of using a spiritual practice as a strategy to acquire and control.

 

Martin Laird is Professor of Early Christian Studies at Villanova University and has written several books on early Christian thought and Christian contemplative life.

 

Title: An Ocean of Light

Author: Martin Laird

ISBN: 9780199379941

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Date: 2019